Mumbai (Maharashtra): After being included in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, cricket is all set to feature in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Executive Board on Friday approved the proposal of the organisers to include the sport along with other disciplines.
Cricket will be played in the T20 format while the 2028 edition is also likely to include baseball-softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes), and squash. Along with cricket, these other sports also received the nod of the IOC Executive Board which met here with President Thomas Bach chairing it. Votes are going to be cast on the proposal during the IOC session which will begin in the city on Sunday.
The move might turn out to be pretty beneficial for India as the sport will create a medal prospect as they are an elite side in the sport. President of the IOC Executive Board Thomas Bach stated that the decision is taken considering American sports culture and it will also help the Olympic movement to engage with new athletes and fans.
"The IOC had to take three different decisions. (The) first was about the proposal of the Los Angeles organising committee to introduce five new sports. These five sports are baseball-softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes), squash and cricket," Bach said during the media briefing after the conclusion of the two-day Executive Board meeting.
"We see growing popularity of cricket, particularly the T20 format. The World Cup (50 overs) is a huge success already."
The initial idea of the Los Angeles Games organising committee was to schedule a six-team event, in both men's and women's T20 cricket. The USA were going to field sides as hosts. However, the final decision regarding the number of participant teams will be taken later. IOC's director of sports, Kit McConnell confirmed the same.
"The proposal from LA was six teams per sport in each of the team sport (that) they have put forward for both men and women, underlying gender equality across the overall package," he stated.
"Now, that number as we mentioned earlier if it is confirmed by the Session to be in the programme, all of those athlete numbers would be confirmed along with the sports. No detailed discussions regarding that (qualification). Those are finalised around 2025 as well, normally the host country is one of the teams and then we look at the balance of the global strength and regional representation," he added.
Cricket is all set to feature in the Olympics for the first time since 1900 and that might be a huge boost for the sport to expand its reach on the global horizon. IOC revealed that five sports are recommended to be included in the upcoming edition of the Olympics.
"Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash are the five sports submitted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s Executive Board (EB) to the upcoming IOC Session as additional sports for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28)," the IOC said in a statement.
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